tummler
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- noun One, such as a social director or entertainer, who encourages guest or audience participation.
- noun One who incites others to action.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- noun An employee - usually male - of a Catskill Mountains resort charged with the duty of entertaining guests throughout the day by providing any number of services, from comedian to master of ceremonies.
- noun A lively, puckish man.
Examples
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Part resident comic, part activities director, part hotel cheerleader, the tummler - derived from the Yiddish word for noisemaker - was expected to field guest complaints, organize talent shows, jump into the pool fully clothed or dash screaming through the lobby pursued by a knife-wielding chef.
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I was going to say Abe Rosenthal called me a tummler, which is Yiddish for a sort of mover and shaker.
The Girls in the Balcony: Women, Men, and the New York Times
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As in previous shows, she re-creates a Sophie Tucker routine, "Max From the Income Tax," which ostensibly is about economic chaos but reveals more about her fascination with Tucker, a Jewish tummler who for 60 years made herself the butt literally of her own jokes about being a zaftig farbissina.
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To put patients at ease, he banters like a borscht-belt tummler, delivering a stream of corny old jokes.
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A tummler, on the other hand, would be hired for their social skills, their ability to communicate, teach and explain, and their knowledge of the different tools and how they work.
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In a way, a good social media consultant acts as a tummler-by-proxy, encouraging their clients to adopt more sociable thinking patterns, but they can only do so much.
Note
The word 'tummler' comes ultimately from the Yiddish word 'tumlen', "to make a racket".
